Saturday, July 31, 2010

CNN) -- Three convicted murderers who broke out of a Kingman, Arizona, prison got some help from a female accomplice who was on a visitation list for one of them, authorities said Saturday.The three, described as armed and dangerous, may well be out of state or on their way to Mexico, a corrections official told CNN.The Arizona Department of Corrections and the Flagstaff police said Saturday that the three disappeared from the medium-security Arizona State Prison-Kingman.State, federal and local authorities are searching for the men, who were discovered missing after the 9:45 p.m. count Friday at the privately-operated facility. The escapees cut a hole in the fence, authorities said. A helicopter and dogs began a search.
All three were serving time on murder convictions and may no longer be traveling together, authorities said.
Two of the inmates and the accomplice later abducted two truck drivers on Interstate 40 outside of Kingman and hijacked their 18-wheeler, according to the Mohave County Sheriff's Department in Kingman. They released them and the rig five hours later in Flagstaff, about 135 miles to the east."We have to take every eventuality into consideration unless we have a definitive trail," said Charles Flanagan, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections. "We know they have a vehicle."
Flanagan told CNN that authorities are making contact with the inmates' families. The three escaped inmates are: Tracy Province, a 42-year-old white man who is 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighs 184 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes; Daniel Renwick, a 36-year-old white man who is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes; and John McCluskey, a 45-year-old white man who is 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.
Province is serving a life sentence for murder and armed robbery. Renwick is serving 22 years for second-degree murder and McCluskey is serving 15 years for second-degree murder and other charges.
The suspected accmpolice was identified as 43-year-old Casslyn Mae Welch, who is 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. Flanagan said she was on the visitation list for one of the inmates.Welch, of Mesa, was seen at the prison driving a 1996 Chrysler Concord four-door sedan prior to the incident, the Mohave Sheriff's Department said. The blue car has a faded hood and roof with an Arizona registration ABL7584. The suspects may still be using the vehicle, the department said later Saturday.
The department said Province was last seen wearing dark blue jeans, a dark purple polo shirt with a red stripe and white tennis shoes. McCluskey had light blue jeans, a white button-up shirt with horizontal and vertical blue stripes and white tennis shoes.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Almost 1,000 Somali police have gone missing after their training was financed by the German government. It is feared these officers will now join forces with the Islamist militants Al-Shabaab.

In September 2009, the German government released $1 million (760,000 euros) of funding to train Somali police officers. The training took place in Ethiopia, and the new recruits were equipped with uniforms, weapons and knowledge with the aim of sending them back into Somalia to try and keep peace in the fractured country.

Two months after the completion of this training, almost 1,000 new police officers have reportedly disappeared en route to the Somali capital Mogadishu. It is thought highly likely that these deserters have left to join opposition Islamist militia in Somalia.

In a statement, the German Foreign Office confirmed that funds were released to train Somali police, and that in May 2010, 925 trained officers were transported to Somalia under Ethiopian surveillance. They did not comment on whether the police had deserted or not.'Training the opposition'
Currently, the transitional Somali government is struggling to suppress the militia, including Al-Qaeda sympathisers Al-Shabaab, who control as much as two-thirds of the country. Germany is one of several countries who have committed to training security personnel as in indirect method of trying to help, without military intervention. However, according to Ulrich Delius from the Society for Threatened Peoples, the problem is that most of these newly trained recruits "leave after a few months" to go and work for the armed opposition."You have to ensure that these people really stay in the official army or police," Delius told Deutsche Welle. "Otherwise you are just training the people you will be fighting in a few months."A report published by the head of the UN monitoring group on Somalia, Dumisani Kumalo in 2008, said 80 percent of trained security officers deserted their posts, taking with them their weapons, uniforms and the acquired knowledge. Reasons for desertion
At a time when the transitional government is barely keeping a hold on the north of Somalia, deserters may feel they are better off siding with the militants than the government "No one is sure who will be the government of tomorrow… so they are switching to survive," Delius said. "Also, you need a weapon and whether you get it from the police or from the armed opposition, it does not matter."He added that money was another strong incentive for joining the militants, as "Somali warlords often offer more money than the official army or police."In this case, German media reports that the Somali police were waiting for their pay from the German government before they disappeared.Another reason for discontent may be due to the fact that the training took place in Ethiopia – a country with a long, bloody history with Somalia."There's a very strong feeling against Ethiopia in all parts of Somali society," said Delius.Stabilization
The German government has come under fire for not only partnering with Ethiopia, but also according to some sources, bypassing the correct United Nations procedures and ignoring sanctions against Somalia.
However, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had informed both the UN contact group on Somalia and the UN sanctions committee.In recent weeks, the government has reconfirmed its commitment to aiding Somalia, most recently at the African Union summit in Kampala. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that the training of police in Somalia was a "substantial contribution" to stabilizing the country.Ulrich Delius argues however that all the projects for training security forces will continue to have no effect until politicians start to "understand the root of the problems in Somalia."

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Mogadishu: Terrorist Sheikh Ali Rage told the press today, “Alshabab is not involved in the Puntland’s Galgala military confrontation…The war is between Puntland Intelligence Service and the local clan inhabitants,” Terrorist Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage.

“The Galgala Muslim population took up arms to defend their religion, dignity and land. You will succeed, be patient and fight against opression by Ethiopian stooges,” He said. “You have the right to defend your faith, property; God is on your side and you will defeat the enemy.” He added. Sheik Rage also accused the media to have exaggerated Alshabab animosity towards Puntland.

Puntland authorities put the blame on Alshabab to have perpetrated yesterday’s attack on Puntland Security Forces. Though the semiautonomous president, Abdirahman Farole claimed victory over the militia, local sources reported heavy losses on the Puntland Forces.

Earlier, the leader of alleged group in Galgala mountainous region, Abdulkadir Farah talked to Somali Public Radio, “we are not Alshabab, Alshabab operates in southern Somalia,… they are not here any shape or form. We are fighting against injustice and clan sabotage.” The president of Puntland Farole hates us because of our believes and the willingness to accept Sharia law,” Mr. Farah.

After the Alshabab press release, many have questioned the validity of the recent media reports. Reuters Abdi Sheikh reported that the group’s allegiance to Alqaida linked Alshabab, was admitted by group’s founder Sheik Atom to reporters in Galgayo Town. However, there is no trace of such an admission. Eventually, the source of the news came from Garoweonline, which is owned by Puntland President’s son, Mohamed Farole.

Sheikh Atam, an elusive cleric fought Puntland previous administration in the past over oil and mineral exploration projects. In 2006, 15 people died in Majayahan village, and after several failed missions, the then Puntland’s President Ade Muse, abandoned the bloody projects. Ever since, the Sheikh Atam and his militia stayed in Galgala, Majayahan and Dalan, and call themselves ‘The Defenders of Sanaag Resources.’ Meanwhile, some say Puntland’s President, Abdirahman Farole, who resided in Australia and holds Australian citizenship, wants to resume the oil and mineral exploration projects, a plan which the people of the area (Galgala, Majayahan, Dalan, etc) fiercely oppose.

The region is under developed and is populated by marginalized communities. Currently, Puntland has no police, local government, and institutional presence in the area. President Farole has never set foot in Sanaag, Haylaan and Western Bari and is accused by local inhabitants of diverting international aid to Garowe, capital of Puntland and President Farole’s hometown.

Since the last military confrontation, the area has remained calm after the local elders mitigated another deadly conflict.One Response to Alshabab spokesman Ali Rage: ‘Alshabab has nothing to do with the Galgala conflict’ news sources. laasqoray.org
confirm the news Breaking News: - Sheikh Atam Give an Interview. VOA- he confirm the voa news heavy fighting between his armed groups and Puntland force .in Galgala . He said to voa The Conflict is the between (local clan) local galgal residents and Puntland President Farole’s clan., ... In the interview, He said to had nothing to do with shabaab and this is clan-based political conflict . nothing but tribal conflicts. ... I don't know what to make of it,"listen to yourself. .. Do you think Pirate kingpin Farole is Playing the terror card ??

President John Evans Atta Mills on Tuesday said Ghana would consider contributing troops to the Africa Union Mission in Somalia following a request made by the 15th Summit of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Kampala, Uganda. He, however, said the final decision would be taken in consultation with the Ghana Armed Forces, based on the availability of human resources, equipment and the welfare of the soldiers.President Mills said this during an interaction with Ghanaians resident in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, where he attended the three-day Summit, which discussed largely the way forward for African countries and how to counter terrorist attacks that were surfacing in parts of the continent.He said the government was serious with its commitment to peace both at home and on the continent, adding that peace should be the number one priority of all African nations."Peace is our number one priority, and when we are in the position, we should help our brothers and sisters, who have been confronted with this scourge," President Mills said, adding that the Government would maintain the peace the nation enjoyed and would help her sister African nations to ensure that peace prevailed on the Continent.He underscored peace as pre-requisite for development and condemned terrorists and advised people, who did not want peace, to disabuse their minds of using violence as the only way to resolving problems.The summit was planned to discuss the role of governments in ensuring maternal, infant and child health in the development of the African continent, but the discussion on peace and security took centre-stage alongside the main summit theme in the wake of two separate bomb attacks that rocked Kampala city two weeks prior to the Summit.The two suicide bombing incidents, linked to Somali al-Shabaab insurgents, were seen as retaliatory moves to disrupt the holding of the Summit in Uganda for contributing troops to the Africa Mission in Somalia.The Summit was nearly moved away from Uganda for security reasons, but for the strong posture put up by host President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who ensured the beefing up of security during the period of the Summit.President Mills registered profound commendation for the government of Uganda for its courage to hold the Summit despite the terrorist threats.He expressed condolences to the bereaved families and condemned the dastardly acts that claimed the lives of 76 people.Part of the recommendations of the Summit was to reinforce the AU Mission in Somalia to which Ghana was approached to make contributions.From Benjamin Mensah, GNA Special Correspondent, Kampala, UgandaSomalia: Rough Road to Peace

BOSASO, Somalia, July 29 (UPI) -- At least 13 combatants were killed in an intense insurgent-government battle in the normally stable Puntland region of northern Somalia, authorities said.The fighting in the rugged mountains of the semiautonomous region, where a third of Somalia's population lives, coincided with clashes between Islamic insurgents and Somali government troops that killed at least 19 civilians in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, health officials said.Another 46 were wounded in the clashes, Radio France Internationale quoted Ali Musa, head of Mogadishu ambulance services, as saying.Both clashes came as the intergovernmental African Union said it would send 4,000 troops to fight the Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahedin movement, one of Africa's most fearsome militant Islamic groups, which controls most of Somalia, the radio network said.

Al-Shabab declared its alliance with al-Qaida Feb. 1.

The Puntland fighting came a day before insurgent warlord Sheik Mohamed Said Atom said he would align his people with al-Shabab forces and fight the Puntland government until it agreed to impose strict Islamic law."Shabab are our brothers," Atom said in a message broadcast by Somali radio stations and appearing on Web sites Wednesday"We are members of the Shabab, and the Shabab are members of us," his message cited by The New York Times said. "We have good contacts. We are united in our objectives."Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole accused al-Shabab of trying to seize the mountains in Puntland and areas bordering the Gulf of Aden so militants can ship more foreign fighters into Somalia, CNN reported.Al-Shabab, which has carried out public executions and amputations in areas it controls, seeks to topple the internationally recognized Somali transitional government.

NAIROBI, Kenya — An insurgent commander based in the semiautonomous region of Puntland in northern Somalia has pledged his allegiance to the Shabab militant group, a move that threatens to destabilize a part of Somalia that had been relatively peaceful. The commander, Sheik Mohamed Said Atom, an insurgent warlord, said he would fight the Puntland government until it agreed to impose strict Islamic law. His forces have recently clashed with Puntland soldiers, but it was not until this week that he announced his alignment with the Shabab, the group that claimed responsibility for the bombings in Uganda this month. “Shabab are our brothers,” Mr. Atom said in a message broadcast by Somali radio stations and Web sites on Wednesday. “We are members of the Shabab, and the Shabab are members of us. We have good contacts. We are united in our objectives.” Puntland is the northeastern corner of Somalia and had been spared much of the incessant warfare of recent years. It is controlled by a clan-based administration and was one of the few areas of Somalia safe enough for Western aid workers and journalists to work on a regular basis. But Puntland is also home to many pirate dens and human trafficking rings. Western officials have long suspected that the Puntland government collaborates with organized crime. In the past few days, Mr. Atom’s fighters have waged an intense battle against Puntland’s forces in the Galgala mountains near the town of Boosaaso. Puntland’s authorities said 13 combatants had been killed, including one of Mr. Atom’s top commanders, which Mr. Atom confirmed. Still, Mr. Atom seemed unbowed. He remains holed up in the mountains and told his followers that Shariah, the legal code of Islam based on the Koran, had been given a bad name. “The people have been misinformed; they were told that Shariah cuts the hands and feet, and that’s not the way,” he said. “So far, no one has had his hands or feet cut.” It is not clear if the Shabab, who have carried out public executions and amputations in areas they control in south-central Somalia, are providing weapons or fighters to Mr. Atom. He said that a few years ago he tried to persuade Puntland officials to impose Islamic law but that they tried to arrest him. “That’s why I went to the mountains and started recruiting young jihadists and holy warriors against them,” he said. A version of this article appeared in print on July 29, 2010, on page A10 of the New York edition.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Islamist militants based in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland will wage a holy war against the administration there until their strict version of sharia law prevails, a rebel commander said late on Tuesday.Sheikh Mohamed Saiid Atom, who says his fighters are allied to the al Qaeda-inspired al Shabaab insurgents behind this month's coordinated bomb attack on Uganda's capital Kampala, urged local residents and businessmen to take up arms."We shall never stop fighting Puntland. We are part and parcel of al Shabaab, we are brothers united by Islamic sharia (law)," Sheikh Atom told reporters in the town of Galkayo.The United Nations says Sheikh Atom is one of the principal suppliers of arms and ammunition for al-Shabaab in Puntland.A major pirate base, Puntland has been relatively stable compared with the rest of Somalia but in recent months violence and instability has spiked in the region.Islamist rebels in central Somalia have threatened to hound the pirates out of their coastal lairs and in May seized Haradhere, a town that has profited heavily from piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

RECRUITING MILITIA

Local residents said the rebels had been recruiting militia fighters in the area and were camped out in the hills outside the port city Bosasso. Continued...

An insider account of Monday’s closed meeting of the regional grouping; the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa, IGAD, reveals that though President Museveni and US President Barack Obama’s administration are hugely aware of the threat the al Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab poses to the Horn of Africa region, they are fiercely split on how to handle the terrorist group. The IGAD meeting attended exclusively by the presidents of Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, US Assistant Secretary for Africa Johnnie Carson, South African Foreign Affairs minister and a British Government official was held on the sidelines of the African Union Summit to discuss the volatile Somalia and the Al-Shabaab threat.Uganda’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs James Mugume told The Observer yesterday that the IGAD meeting was meant to lobby the P3 countries; US, Britain, France to agree to finance the Somalia Mission and support a change of mandate from peace keeping to enforcement.
Angered by the bomb attacks in Kampala, President Yoweri Museveni wanted the green light for an all-out offensive.Museveni at the opening of the AU summit on Sunday told delegates that “The AU needed to deal decisively with the terrorists who dare attack the AU flag.However, the US representative reportedly refused to support the position of Museveni, which was however strongly supported by Djibouti president, Ismail Omar Guelleh.The two African presidents were reportedly unhappy with the US’ support for the re-enforcement of the AMISOM mission in Somalia yet opposing the suggestion to broaden the mandate of the troops.
Our sources have told us that during the IGAD meeting, Museveni and Guelleh put Johnnie Carson to task to explain why the US position was unclear.“These people have brought terrorism to our doors. We need to flush them out,” Museveni reportedly told Carson, who chaired the six-hour meeting. Guelleh told Carson that the influx of Somali refugees into his country had put enormous economic strain on Djibouti. “We need to deal with these people decisively,” Guelleh reportedly told the meeting. Djibouti is one of the countries that have pledged to send more troops to Somalia.Museveni this week told the BBC that the rules of engagement in Somalia needed to be changed because Uganda and neighbouring countries faced imminent attacks from terrorist groups there. He said the AU peacekeepers were confused by the current mandate.“They don’t understand what they are doing. So they need a robust answer, a robust incisive answer,” he said.Under the current mandate, peace keepers can only go after insurgents if they are attacked first. Virtually all African leaders agreed with Museveni and Guelleh’s arguments, and clapped thunderously to show their support.The AU heads of state however chose the somewhat safer middle ground, whereby the peacekeepers can carry out pre-emptive attacks, but there will be no change of mandate. This decision is unlikely to make a significant difference on the ground but should help shore up the transitional government, especially if more equipment and troops arrive soon, the BBC says. Carson, according to sources, said the Somalia situation needed to be handled cautiously lest it explodes.
He reportedly told them that a change in mandate might not instantly bring positive results, pointing out the situation in Afghanistan which still remains volatile despite the deployment of an additional 20,000 US troops early this year. We have also been told that the US might not be in favour of a broader mandate because it calls for more financial and material support. On Tuesday, Carson told journalists that the international community needs to help Somalia because restoring peace in the county “was not a US project.”However, Carson re-affirmed that the US will continue to provide technical and financial assistance to AMISOM.The summit, which opened Sunday and ended Tuesday, was originally meant to discuss health issues. However, security issues took centre stage, especially in the wake of the July 11 bomb attacks in Kampala that killed 76 people and injured more than 80. The Al Shabaab militia, which is currently battling the weak Transitional Federal Government in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the bombings, saying they were in retaliation for Uganda’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia. About 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops are stationed in the Horn of Africa country nation to mainly protect the transitional government.
Just like Carson, the AU is reluctant to change the AMISOM mandate from peacekeeping to peace enforcement. In his address to the media at the end of the 15th AU summit, Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, the Malawian president who also doubles as chairman of the AU, said that although terrorism is a global threat, “let us find other ways other than going and bombing innocent people.”
He added that African forces are taking action to ensure that the Al Shabaab don’t reign in Somalia and that the UN security council will review the situation before deciding whether to change the mandate from defensive to offensive. He however agreed that there is need to change the existing framework.
“We need a new framework with the rest of the world. We need the UN and European countries to come together on the framework. I think the existing framework is not adequate,” he said.
Jean Ping, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, said that although the change of mandate is under consideration, it has a lot of implications.
“We need equipment, we need to increase the payment of the soldiers from the current $750 per month to $1,800 like the UN,” Ping said.
In the meantime however, the AU has made a commitment to increase its troops over and above the 8,000 ceiling with additional troops from Guinea and Djibouti.
“There are many other countries ready to send troops. There is a request to move the ceiling up,” Ping said.
So far IGAD members have made it clear that about 20,000 troops are needed to stabilise Somalia. We understand that the US has urged Nigeria and South Africa to join the mission, but the two African giants are yet to commit themselves. The Observer. African Union is of Great Importance to The U.S

Heavy fighting between armed groups and the forces of Puntland administration has broken out at the mountains of Karin towns close to the city of Bosaaso, the commercial Capital of Puntland state of Somalia witnesses said on Monda. Source in Laag and Bosaaso confirmed to LaasqorayNET that the fighting was between the PIS forces of Puntland Which known locally Ashahaado la dirir[Anti Shahadah] and other forces led by Mohamed Sa’id Atam, a religious cleric that the Puntland accusing that he has relation with Al-shabab, while local clans are accusing the Puntland Leaders for war mongering and clan cleansing.Reports say that the fighting between the two sides came as fighters loyal to the cleric attacked Karin village where there had been forces of Puntland administration, killing 9 soldiers.Local Sources in Bosaso indicate that both sides claimed victory over the fighting pointing out that each side claimed it took over the control of the Town.President Farole, An Australian citizen who was member of group of ministries during Ade Muse rule in Puntland who brought a bogus Australian company for mining contracts thought he has fallen out with Ade Muse citing that he was sidelined and was kept dark of the final agreement.
President Farole is also known to be intervening freak control kind of politician who has fallen out with many of his ministry including of that the interior and local government, General Ilkajir.President Farole has said to local clan based media that he will capture the district of Galgala citing that Alshabab has base there in which clan elders of the district are disputing with.Its known in Puntland is based clan sharing and lately Majeerten clans have been the main and undisputed ruler of the regions sources such as the Port in the Bosaso while alienating local clans.Its likely this fighting will change into clan based one as many of the supporters of the Sheikh Atam hail from Dubais clan of Warsangeli who are one of the founders of the Puntland state...News Source LaasqorayNETThis is 'Very Disturbing News' Al Shabaab always take advantage when tribal disputes occur .shabaab Islamic seized control of Kismayo, Somalia's third-largest city take advantage internal tribal dispute .
Intra-tribal conflict: conflicts that occur within the tribe between clans and lineage groups belonging to the same tribe.. this is the most serious problems facing Puntland state of Somalia ... Puntland state need to deal with this problem now, it may become a bigger problem .
TF.SF We welcome your opinion Please send to us your article or opinion terrorfreesomalia@gmail.comGALGALA! MAAKHIR COMMUNITY SUPPORTED ELDERS!‏

update on Pirate Suspects From Somalia Charged in U.S.,11 Somalis appear in US court on piracy charges - NORFOLK, Va. — Eleven Somali nationals accused in separate attacks on two U.S. Navy ships are due in federal court in Virginia for arraignments on piracy and other charges.The defendants are scheduled to appear Wednesday before judges in separate courtrooms in Norfolk to enter pleas on the piracy charges and other counts contained in a superseding arraignment handed up earlier this month.Six of the men are accused in the April 10 attack on the USS Ashland. Five are charged in connection with an April 1 attack on the USS Nicholas. The Virginia-based ships were patrolling pirate-infested waters off Africa.The piracy charge carries a mandatory life term. All entered not guilty pleas at their previous arraignment.

Kampala. Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed on Tuesday welcomed the decision by African heads of state and government to deploy additional 4,000 troops to reinforce the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Xinhua News Agency informed. Sharif Ahmed told reporters after the official closure of the 15th AU summit here attended by 35 African heads of state and government that the troops will help pacify and stabilize the war torn country."I am very pleased with the outcome of the summit and the decision. I believe the implementation will take place. These terrorist will be defeated," Sharif Ahmed told Xinhua in an interview after the closing ceremony."The issue was not only about defeating the terrorist but building the institutions of Somalia to tackle the problem," he said The African leaders on Tuesday resolved to deploy additional 4, 000 troops to reinforce the AMISOM troops in the Horn of the African country.

The increment brings the total number of AU troops in the volatile country to over 10,000. Guinea will deploy a battalion and Intergovernmental Authority for Development, a regional body grouping Ethiopia, Uganda, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan will send 2,000 soldiers to help pacify and stabilize the country.AU chief Jean Ping told reporters that there is a proposal by AU to increase the troops to 15,000 to tackle terrorism in Somalia. The commission currently has a ceiling of 8,000.Uganda and Burundi are the only two countries currently contributing about 6,100 peacekeepers to Somalia. Security experts have recommended a 27,000 strong peacekeeping force to pacify the situation.The summit was held here under the theme: "Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa", Peace and security, the crisis in Somalia and Darfur region in Sudan also took center stage of the discussions following suicide bomb attacks by Somali militant group al Shabaab in Kampala two weeks ago that killed 76 people. More Troops for Somalia, but No Peace to Keep
NAIROBI, Kenya — If there is one place on the African continent that could benefit from new thinking, it is Somalia, a country that has been mired in mutating forms of civil war for nearly 20 years. nBut that is apparently not, many analysts contend, what Africa’s leaders are prepared to give it. Instead, the various presidents across the continent said goodbye to one another on Tuesday at the close of their annual summit meeting by agreeing on a remedy that has never solved Somalia’s problems: more peacekeepers. The approach goes against the grain of what recent history has taught about Somalia, analysts point out — that no amount of outside firepower has brought the country to heel. Not thousands of American Marines in the early 1990s. Not the enormous United Nations mission that followed. Not the Ethiopian Army storming into Somalia in 2006. Not the current African Union peacekeepers, who are steadily wearing out their welcome.

In fact, the only time Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, was remotely quiet was for six months in 2006, when an Islamist coalition controlled the city by itself. Today, the most stable part of the country is the breakaway region of Somaliland, which just held elections and on Tuesday carried out one of the Horn of Africa’s rare peaceful transfers of power, despite little help and a lack of official recognition from the outside world.
Many, if not most, of the analysts who follow Somalia believe that the African peacekeeping mission, no matter how many troops are part of it, is going to fail. “I cannot think of a worse decision than to not merely continue the strategically bankrupt policy of sending more ‘peacekeepers’ to Somalia, when there is no peace for them to keep, but to compound that mistake by sending more troops to protect a regime that has no hope of ever governing southern and central Somalia, much less the entire country,” said J. Peter Pham, a senior vice president at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. Somalia continues to be a caldron of bloodshed, piracy and Islamist radicalism. That volatile mix has spilled over its borders in recent years, but perhaps most intensely on July 11, when the authorities said suicide bombers blew themselves up in Kampala, Uganda — the site of the African Union meeting — two weeks before the presidents arrived. Kampala was thought to be one of the most laid-back capitals on the continent — lush, friendly and secure. The bombings killed more than 76 civilians and shocked the entire country. Somali Islamist insurgents — egged on, or possibly aided, by Al Qaeda — claimed responsibility for the attack. There are currently 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian peacekeepers in Mogadishu, but they are struggling to beat back the Islamist fighters, who are rallying around a group called the Shabab.
Somalia’s transitional government is doing worse. Feckless and divided, it is holed up in a hilltop palace in Mogadishu, unable to deliver services, mobilize the people or provide a coherent alternative to the insurgents, who chop off hands, ban music, soccer and bras, and hold much of Somalia in a grip of fear.
The African Union wants to add 2,000 troops now; some African leaders have even mused about another 14,000. The American government is also supportive of adding troops, offering in the past week to increase the peacekeeping money it contributes. (The United States has already provided close to $200 million.)
The philosophy is that if the peacekeepers can push the Shabab out of Mogadishu and buy a little time and space for the Somali government, the government can sprout roots, help the population with food, water, education and jobs, gain some credibility, and begin to turn around a country that has become a byword for anarchy. Johnnie Carson, an assistant secretary of state and the top American diplomat for Africa, said Tuesday in Kampala that this outside intervention would be different from previous attempts, which were plagued by a “lack of consistency” and “a lack of resolution.” American officials have also said that the peacekeepers cannot fix the situation themselves and that the transitional government has to strengthen its own security forces, which the United States is helping, both overtly and covertly. But many analysts argue that it would be better, in the long run, to pull out all the peacekeepers, let the transitional government fall, let the Shabab take over the country, and then allow clan militias and businessmen to rise up and overthrow them. The eventual result, analysts argue, would be a government that would be more organic and therefore more durable than a government that relies on outside forces to survive. “I don’t think there’s a strategy that will cause less harm,” said Bronwyn E. Bruton, a consultant on democracy and governing who championed a policy of “constructive disengagement” in a report for the Council on Foreign Relations. Recent history has shown that nothing galvanizes Somalis more than an outside occupier. The African Union peacekeepers were initially appreciated for standing up to the Shabab. But as time passes and the fighting intensifies, the peacekeepers are making enemies among the populace by shelling crowded neighborhoods in response to insurgent fire and inadvertently killing civilians. In striking Ugandans, the Shabab may have calculated that the Somali population was getting fed up with the Ugandan peacekeepers and that such an attack would play well on the shelled-out streets of Mogadishu. American officials say they are aware of the risks of injecting more force and more guns into Somalia. But they, along with many others, are unnerved by the prospects of the Shabab taking over the entire country. There are fears in Nairobi that the Shabab could attack Kenya during a constitutional referendum, when large groups of people are lined up outside casting their votes. People here were deeply disturbed by the pictures from Kampala, of young Ugandans dressed up for a night out sitting dead in white plastic chairs, some still seemingly alive, with beer bottles in their laps. The message the images sent: the Shabab are getting closer to Al Qaeda, and closer to us. A version of this news analysis appeared in print on July 28, 2010, on page A10 of the New York edition.Inside Story - The African Union's role
The African Union (AU) summit is underway in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, with two main issues expected to dominate. The first - and the one expected to overshadow the gathering is Somalia and the battle against al-Shabab. The second issue will focus on Omar Al Bashir, Sudan's president, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and genocide. Is the AU able to address the new challenges, and how? And is the Union of any relevance at all?

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Agence France Presse
KAMPALA: Uganda’s president urged African Union (AU) leaders at a summit to “sweep the terrorists” out of Africa on Sunday, following recent deadly attacks by Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab rebels.
“Let us now act in concert and sweep them out of Africa,” Yoweri Museveni said, referring to the perpetrators of the July 11 blasts in Kampala that killed 76 revelers watching the soccer World Cup final.“Let them go back to Asia or the Middle East where I understand some come from,” Museveni said at the opening of the three-day summit.
More than 30 heads of state from the AU’s 53 members gathered amid unprecedented security in the Ugandan capital, for a debate on boosting the organization’s troops levels in Somalia and crushing the Islamist insurgents in the war-torn nation top of the agenda.
The AU summit observed two minutes of silence for the victims of the attacks two weeks ago.
“The African Union stands with you, my brother President Museveni, and with the people of Uganda,” Bingu wa Mutharika, Malawi’s president and current chairman of the AU, said in his opening remarks.
Museveni also said many of the organizers of the attacks in Kampala have been arrested.
“Their interrogations have yielded very good information,” he added.
Ugandan authorities have not been precise about the number of people detained for their suspected involvement in the blasts. Last week the inspector general of the Uganda police force, Kale Kayihura, put the figure at “more than 20” but several of those individuals have since been released.
The two bombings were intended to bully Uganda into pulling out of the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the last thing standing between Al-Shabaab and total power.
Uganda reacted by saying it could send 2,000 more troops and urged more decisive international support, while the embattled Somali government argued the attacks were evidence Somalia required the world’s attention.
“Guinea is ready to immediately dispatch a battalion,” AU chief Jean Ping said on Friday. “We are going to quickly top the 8,000 mark … I think the current trend could take us over 10,000.”
Diplomats in Kampala say Angola, Mozambique and South Africa may also pledge troops. Current deployment from these countries is just over 6,000 Ugandans and Burundians.
Al-Shabaab’s leadership has proclaimed its allegiance to Osama bin Laden and the group’s first bomb attacks outside Somalia renewed fears that the Horn of Africa country could become a new safe haven for Al-Qaeda.Troops from the United States and the United Nations have previously not been able to crush the insurgency in Somalia, which has been without an effective government for two decades.
Eritrea, which is under international sanctions and has been accused of supporting Al-Shabaab, argues that the Islamist insurgency needs to be engaged at the negotiating table rather than on the battlefield.
Al-Shabaab – as well as Mogadishu residents and rights groups – have criticized AMISOM for causing civilian deaths by shelling targets in densely-populated areas.Analysts have warned a beefed up AMISOM mandate could make things worse.“We are quite worried about the consequences of such an operation, because if they are engaged in quite an indiscriminate manner, they run the risk of playing in the hands of the Shabab,” the International Crisis Group’s Ernst Jan Hogendoorn said.The continent’s leaders are also expected to discuss the future of Sudan, where the oil-rich southern region is due to hold a referendum on independence in January.Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir stayed clear of the summit, AU sources said. The International Criminal Court recently added genocide charges to Bashir’s indictment over the war in Darfur and Uganda. A member of the court would have been compelled to arrest him.

The African Union (AU) summit is underway in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, with two main issues expected to dominate. The first - and the one expected to overshadow the gathering is Somalia and the battle against al-Shabab. The second issue will focus on Omar Al Bashir, Sudan's president, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and genocide. Is the AU able to address the new challenges, and how? And is the Union of any relevance at all?

Meanwhile, as quljeednet.com has reported Dahabshiil is the financier of the SNM leader and war criminal Ahmed Mohamed Siilaanyo who is slated to takeover the secessionist entity. This fresh report is one more indication that Dahabshiil and the one-clan -Somaliland break away enclave are involved in terroist activities and are allied to Al Shabaab.Sado Ali a singer of a national stature is being targeted by the secessionists for her political opinion and opposition to the secession fantacy.For more information on this news, please visit allmudugnews.com and waagacusub.com (news in the Somali language)
people in South Asian countries often used an informal network of brokers, called an "hawala," to transfer money over long distances when it was too inconvenient or dangerous to send cash by courier.

Maternal Heath, infant mortality, the scheduled primary focus of this 15th Ordinary Session of the AU remains important for the entire continent. However, the Somali issue seems to have “high jacked” this Summit and especially in the aftermath of the Kampala bombings.Understandably, the Government of Uganda remains shocked by this loss of life in its own capital. There is an international chorus to go after the perpetrators of the bombings. There are calls for AMISOM mandate change from “peacekeeping” to enforcement, UN takeover of AMISOM as well as a surge in AU troop’s levels up to 20.000.The sum total of these calls lead only to one direction: a robust foreign led military intervention and consequently, a military solution to the Somali conflict that keeps Sharif & Co. in power.But the question that begs an answer remains: Will another foreign led military intervention bring durable peace to Somalia? Lessons from history teach that surges in troop levels as well as military interventions in foreign lands, however robust, end in failure. Vietnam in the 1960s, Iraq and Afghanistan are such examples.Closer to home, the US-UN led military intervention in Somalia in the early 1990s ended in failure. The more recent Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia-2006-2008 resulted in the ignonamus defeat of the Ethiopian forces.Foreign led military interventions do not bring durable peace to a country in a major conflict. On the contrary, killings, displacement of civilians and destruction become the order of the day.At the same time, external actors like neighbouring countries pursue different national interests and strategic objectives, in most cases at variance with the quest for peace. Most of the IGAD member States are an example in this regard and in relation to Somalia.

EXCELLENCIES,

An expanded military intervention is the wrong prescription for Somalia. Like the previous attempts, this is bound to fail. Looking at Somalia only through the narrow prism of fighting terrorism will not promote peace in the country.Likewise, imposing on the Somali people, a dysfunctional inept and famously corrupt TFG that controls few blocks in Mogadishu is a wrong track. What is needed in Somalia is a political settlement of the conflict. And this can be done only by us Somalis. Any political settlement must premise on an all inclusive Somali owned peace process that must deliver durable peace.One outcome of such Somali owned process must result in a truly representative government of national unity. Such a government with be able to create the institutions of governance and must be accountable to its citizens and the world at large. The role of the AU and other members of the international community must be confined to the creation of an enabling environment for such a Somali owned peace process. A new military intervention in Somalia is not an option.
At this time of Uganda’s great loss and grief, cooler heads must prevail at this Summit.

I appeal to the Heads of State and Government at this 15th Ordinary Session of the African Union to step back from the brink of further internationalizing the Somali conflict. To give peace a chance, this Summit must support a Somali owned, all inclusive peace process.
The sanction of a military solution for Somalia will not be the finest hour of the African Union.
Amb. Ahmed Abdi Hashi Email: xasharo@gmail.com
Former Somali Ambassador to the UN (2001-2005) July 27, 2010
TF.SF We welcome your opinion Please send to us your article or opinion terrorfreesomalia@gmail.com

The Obama administration's chief Africa diplomat says the suicide bombings by the Somali militant group al-Shabab earlier this month in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, were a "wake-up call" for the world community about the Islamic radicals. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson is in Kampala for the African Union summit.Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson says the July 11 bombings at two Kampala viewing sites for the World Cup finals show al-Shabab's ability to use terror tactics far beyond Somalia, and should yield greater African and world support for the AU's AMISOM peacekeeping force in the troubled Horn-of-Africa country.The assistant secretary spoke to reporters in a telephone hook-up from Kampala, where he led a high-level U.S. delegation to the AU summit. He said the bombings, which killed nearly 80 people, established al-Shabab as a force to be reckoned with throughout much of Africa."If al-Shabab can strike Kampala, it also is a threat to all of Somalia's regional neighbors, from Djibouti and Ethiopia and Kenya all the way down to Tanzania," Carson said. "This is the first time that we have seen Shahab use suicide tactics outside of the south-central area of the country. This constitutes a threat and I think the regional states are genuinely concerned about the capacity of Shabab to do this."The AU summit endorsed plans by the East African regional economic bloc IGAD to send another 2,000 peacekeeping troops to Somalia, to bolster the contingent of more than 5,000 Burundian and Ugandan soldiers.The United States has provided logistical support for the AMISOM force and Carson said he hopes al-Shabab's newly-demonstrated terror potential will prompt countries in Africa and beyond to make good on existing pledges of help for AMISOM and the struggling Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu.
Carson said there was a heavy focus at the AU summit on the need to reduce civilian casualties attributed to AMISOM in Somalia. He said helping AMISOM improve its battlefield intelligence capabilities, and providing it with more accurate artillery and other weapons will ease the problem. He also said some civilian deaths can be attributed to the way al-Shahab operates."I think that some of the tactics employed by al-Shabab are responsible for some of the civilian casualties that have been reported in the press," added Carson. "Al-Shabab moves in and out of market areas, in and out of civilian residential areas, with the clear intent of using those markets and those residential units where civilians reside, as a place where they can launch their mortars and fire their weapons."
AMISOM has been accused of indiscriminately shelling civilian areas. Carson said he believes there have been no deliberate attacks on civilians, but acknowledged the problem has the potential of turning the Somali population against the AU force. voa

Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) -- Fighting between Somali government-backed African Union forces and Al-Shabaab fighters erupted into the normally stable area of Puntland on Monday, killing 13. Another 19 died in battles in Mogadishu, authorities said.In addition, 34 were injured in Mogadishu, said Ali Muse Sheikh, an ambulance service director.Puntland forces and militant fighters from Al-Shabaab have for the first time fought in the semi-autonomous region in northeast Somalia, the more stable area of the country.Abdirahman Mohamed Farole, the president of Puntland, claimed that his security forces killed fighters from Al-Shabaab during a fierce battle in the village of Karin, 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of the port town of Bosaso. Farole also said his forces captured Jama Ismail, who he said is on an international list of terrorists."We are fighting with Al-Shabaab and their foreign-allied terrorists, so I am calling on all people in Puntland to fight and defend their territories from Al-Shabaab," Abdirahman said.The president accused Al-Shabaab of trying to seize the mountains in Puntland and the areas bordering the Gulf of Aden so the militants can ship more foreign fighters into Somalia.The Islamic groups of Al-Shabaab and Hezbul-Islam are trying to topple the Somali transitional government in war-torn Mogadishu.Al-Shabaab, which is affiliated with al Qaeda, is designated by the United States as an international terrorist group.Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991.

KAMPALA, Uganda – African leaders are pledging thousands of new troops for Somalia to fight al-Qaida-linked militants responsible for the twin World Cup bombings that killed 76 people, and the U.S. says it will help bankroll the military campaign.But internal documents obtained by The Associated Press show that that African Union forces and Somali troops don't trust one another, and that Somalia's government "lacks consistency, coherence and coordination," raising questions about whether more AU troops can solve the Somali impasse.African leaders and U.S. officials called for stepped-up efforts in Somalia as an African Union summit here concluded Tuesday. The summit opened only days after the July 11 bombings in Kampala, an attack that prompted Uganda's president to call for Africa to band together against Somalia's militants.Al-Shabab, Somalia's most-feared militant group, claimed responsibility for bombing two sites where people were watching the World Cup final game on television, and said the blasts were in retaliation for civilian deaths caused by African Union troops in Mogadishu. They also have vowed to attack Burundi, the other African country that has been providing troops to the AU.At the summit, Africa's leaders voted to immediately dispatch 2,000 more Ugandan and Burundian troops to the African Union mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, boosting levels from 6,000 to the maximum mandate of 8,000.The AU has commitments of 4,000 troops — 2,000 from IGAD, a bloc of East African nations, and one battalion each from both Guinea and Djibouti, AU commission chairman Jean Ping said at the summit's closing news conference. The AU is considering a request to raise the ceiling number for the total number of troops, he said, without giving a figure for the rise.America's top official for Africa, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson, said that with a stronger AU force the African Union force could defeat al-Shabab, which intelligence officials say has been bolstered by foreign fighters from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan."We believe that it is necessary to have more troops on the ground and we in Washington have committed ourselves to support additional troops on the ground in the same fashion that we have supported the existing Burundi and Ugandan troops," Carson said Monday.Since 2007, the U.S. has given training, logistical support and equipment worth more than $176 million to AMISOM, and Carson has promised additional resources to Burundian and Ugandan troops without giving a precise figure.But an internal report written last month by military experts from IGAD, the bloc of East African nations, cast doubt on the efforts being made by AMISOM troops. The report said there is a lack of trust between AU and Somali forces, and that the effectiveness of AMISOM troops is hindered by the Somali government's many weaknesses"The team found out that there is a misunderstanding and lack of trust between AMISOM and (Somali) security forces and this has caused poor coordination of tasks amongst them," said the report, which was obtained by the AP. The report also said the Somali government's approach to its duties "portrays a government with no clear vision."Despite that, African Union leaders said they are considering a plan to give the force a stronger mandate and had requested helicopters from Western donors to allow the AU troops to take offensive action against the al-Qaida-aligned insurgents. Currently the peacekeeping forces can only respond to attacks or when they see militants.That, though, could sour relations with Somalis even more. Internal documents obtained by the AP earlier this month showed that the AU knows the civilian casualties its troops cause in battle are turning Somalis against it.The U.S. call for more troops comes as members of Congress are taking an increasing interest in the violent Horn of Africa nation, the site of a failed early 1990s U.S. deployment that ended shortly after the military battle chronicled in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down."In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week, 13 House Democrats compared the situation with al-Shabab in Somalia to the Taliban's in Afghanistan when it allowed sanctuary for al-Qaida to plan the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks."Al-Shabab-controlled territory in Somalia is becoming a safe haven for terrorists from around the world," the 13 members said. "The United States must not sit back. ... Extremists in Somalia have already made clear their intentions to harm us, and if they have not done so already, they will soon seek capabilities to carry out attacks in the United States."The letter said the U.S. should offer regional states "extensive financial, material and logistical support" to improve security.Some analysts, though, said that simply sending in more troops was unlikely to solve the problem."The current situation in Somalia just does not call for a large peacekeeping operation," said David Shinn, former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia. "AU troops cannot police all of Somalia."Shinn, a professor at George Washington University and one of the coordinators of U.S. policy in Somalia in the early 1990s, said that the failure of U.S. and U.N. involvement in the country showed large-scale foreign intervention would not work. "That was not the solution then and it will not be now," Shinn said. Somalia's weak transitional government welcomed the commitment of more troops but said that long-term peace in Somalia depends on building up the government's security forces. "We really believe strongly that if the Somali government army were given the support they need then AMISOM would only be a kind of supporting force," Somali Foreign Minister Yusuf Hassan Ibrahim said. The internal IGAD report, though, showed how far Somalia's forces have to go. The Somali troops do not have a physical headquarters. Equipment and weapons held by Somali forces, including ammunition, are not accounted for. Somali "forces are not assigned barracks or camps and are staying wherever they can get accommodation," said the report, adding that there is "no formal and effective system of receiving and accounting for returning trainees from neighboring countries." In an ominous sign of what international forces in Somalia might face, the opposition group Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia warned against new troop deployment. "The Somali people will be united to defend their country forcefully and fiercely from any foreign aggression or military occupation," the statement said.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali Islamist rebels have ordered residents in areas they control to hand over televisions and satellite dishes, warning that anyone who did not would be considered a spy, residents said on Monday.The affected region is largely controlled by the al Shabaab group, a rebel militia linked to al Qaeda which enforces a harsh version of sharia law that includes banning school bells, ringtones on cell phones and music on radios.Members of the militia group, which has also banned watching football and films, have warned residents through loud speakers mounted on vehicles in towns across southern and central Somalia to give up their TV sets before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan starts in mid-August."Families were told to surrender their television sets and satellite dishes. They are afraid some of us may use them as private channels for communication," Abshir, a resident of Buula-barde, told Reuters."In the past, we could not watch games or films as we wanted. Now, we cannot have TV sets at all," he said, declining to give his second name for safety reasons.Another resident in Bardale, a town 60 km north of Baidoa, said they were informed of the decision at a public gathering late on Friday. "We are not happy to handover our belongings to someone else," said the resident who did not want to be named.The warning scared residents who are familiar with the group that previously carried out death sentences on dozens of people accused of espionage for the government or foreign troops.One legislator from Buula-barde said the radical group, which claimed responsibility for bombings in the Ugandan capital of Kampala that killed 76 people this month, were watching developments an African Union summit in the city for any possible offensive."They are monitoring closely the discussion at the summit and cautious that African troops may leave the defensive positions after the Kampala bombing," legislator Osman Mohamed said."They are oppressing our people using a poor excuse that residents may be spies, but that is not the case. This is the beginning of series attempts to control information, and create the fear among the people."
The United States added its voice on Monday to growing calls at the AU summit for more troops to tackle Somalia's Islamist rebels. Delegates are debating the mandate of 6,300 AU peacekeepers in Somalia, which are barely managing to keep the country's besieged government in power.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Aside from Sool and other eastern regions that don’t consider themselves part of Somaliland, the rest of Somaliland is peaceful. The region has just concluded an election that, by all accounts, was free and fair, and peaceful transfer of power has taken place or will take place within few days.

This article is not about whether or not the secession from Somalia is good or bad for Somaliland. But it is only about the reasons behind Somaliland’s failure to attain world recognition in the past, and what the future may hold in achieving that coveted goal.

The political and security fortunes of Southern Somalia and Somaliland have been very different since the collapse of the Somali government, but they share one particular trait: Southern Somalia has been searching peace and stability in the past 19 years. It is still searching. Somaliland has been searching recognition in the past 19 years. It is still searching.

Defining Secession:

Secession is a sinful word in international politics. Nearly all the major powers have sometime in their history fought against secession of some part of their country. It is a phenomenon or process that is hardly looked upon with favour by anyone. Therefore, for any country to support a secessionist region, two conditions, or at least one of them, must be at play in the conflict:

1—The country extending the recognition to the secessionist region must be an enemy of the country that is being seceded from.

2—The weakness or the disintegration resulting from the secession must benefit, politically or economically, the country extending the recognition to the secessionist region.Now, keeping those two points in mind, let us raise the begging question, why has Somaliland failed to gain recognition in the past 19 years?

There are three main reasons for that failure, and they are:

1 — Misconception about democracy

2 — Seeking recognition in all the wrong places

3 — Ethiopia’s self-interest

1—Misconception about Democracy:

Somaliland leaders have apparently bought the notion that if they conduct free and fair elections, they would get into the good books of world powers, and that, in turn, would open the doors, and bolster the region’s efforts to gain world recognition. Theoretically, this is a sensible assumption. However, in world politics, theoretical sensibilities are not translated into actual policies.

True, democratization, free elections and peaceful transference of power are all good for Somaliland and its people. No one can deny or dispute this. But does every country’s democratization and free elections good for or benefit say America? Well, the US government doesn’t think so.

If the Americans and the Europeans, for that matter, believed democratization of other countries served their interests best, they would have befriended democratic governments everywhere, and would have taken tough actions, including imposing economic sanctions, against dictatorships through out the world. But a quick glance of the Arab world reveals that all of America’s and Europe’s friends in the Arab world are all, without exception, dictators! The irony is that, Iran, the only country in the Middle East that is democratic, and peaceful transfer of power regularly takes place is the only country against which the Americans and the Europeans have been directing their most virulent hostility!

To give another example that is closer to home, consider this:

-In 2005, Ethiopia conducted a general election. Males Zenawi, the Tigrean dictator, rigged the election. And when the Ethiopian people protested against the injustice, Zenawi’s forces literally massacred the protesters on the streets of Addis Ababa, reportedly killing about two-hundred (200) protesters in the process. Was Zenawi regime sanctioned by the west, or at least forced to pay a price for killing civilian protesters in that cruel and inhuman fashion? No. Despite the blood on his hands, the Tigrean dictator continued to receive the largest western aid in sub-saharan Africa!

-Again in 2010, Ethiopia conducted a second general election. European and other international observers all confirmed that the election was neither free nor fair. The Zenawi regime imprisoned the most popular opposition figure Bertukan Mideksa and literally stuffed the ballot boxes, and won almost 90% of the seats! Was Zenawi chastised by the western powers for making mockery of the democratic process? No. On the contrary, Zenawi’s stature was hugely elevated so much so that he was invited to participate the G20 meetings that were held in Toronto just few days ago! This shows the west’s lip service about supporting democracy is just that, lip service!

2—Searching recognition in all the wrong places:

Somaliland leaders have spent great deal of time and effort in searching recognition in various countries such as America, Canada, the European Union, the African Union, etc., etc. Granted these are powerful countries and powerful organizations, however, when it comes to Somaliland’s recognition, none of those countries or these powerful organizations is essential, because none of them has the incentive of either being an enemy of the Somali Republic, or would particularly benefit from the disintegration resulting from the secession. Even Britain, a close ally and former colonial master consistently rejected the idea of extending recognition to Somaliland. And if Britain wouldn’t do it, neither would the US, nor the E. U, China, Russia, India or any other power. Because Somaliland and its leaders are understandably so exhausted with this process after 19 long years, and are so thirsty for recognition, any positive pronouncement by any western official about Somaliland, its stability, and democratization is greeted with near euphoria, making it appear as though the priced goal is, at last, just around the corner. But time and again, hopes have been consistently dashed on that front.

3—Ethiopia’s self-interest:

If there is any country in the world that would start granting recognition to Somaliland this is it! Ethiopia has both of the two incentives necessary for supporting the secession of Somaliland: it is the historic enemy of the Somali Republic, and it would hugely benefit from the disintegration resulting from Somaliland’s secession from Somalia.

The interesting thing however is that, even though Ethiopia has both of the incentives necessary for supporting Somaliland’s secession, and would hugely benefit from Somalia’s disintegration, it has been refusing to extend the recognition to Somaliland. And the question is why?

Ethiopia has been refusing to recognize Somaliland for two clear cut reasons:

1—Granting recognition to Somaliland would cost Ethiopia a huge price from two fronts:

A—Such action would severely damage Ethiopia’s standing both in regional and international circles. The demise of the Somali government made Ethiopia a regional superpower by default. However much of Ethiopia’s newly acquired status is driven from its close involvement, and near monopoly of the Somalia FILE! The US, the EU, and African Union have all blessed Ethiopia to handle the Somali affairs in lieu of international community. And because of its shrewd domination of the Somalia File, Ethiopia is considered by many as a regional pacifier.

Now if Ethiopia grants recognition to Somaliland, all of Ethiopia’s pretensions will fall apart! The Tigrean regime will lose credibility, and will be widely condemned as regional trouble maker. In addition, the Ethiopian regime will automatically lose the Somalia File and all of its benefits and insights, and will be cut out of Somali affairs once and for all! Instead of the dominant regional pacifier that it was once seen, the Zenawi regime will deservedly become an isolated regional pariah.

B—Ethiopia is a diverse multi-religion, and multi-ethnic country. And aside from the Tigreans and the Amharas, none of the Ethiopia’s other ethnic nationalities ever consented to become part of Ethiopia, but, one and all, were forced to be one by the barrel of a gun! That is why ethnic insurgency had been with Ethiopia for centuries. Now, if Ethiopia extends recognition to Somaliland, that action may make Ethiopia end up shooting herself in the foot, and dig her own grave. How so? Well, if Ethiopia, as her recognition of Somaliland would clearly indicate, is seen as openly engineering the dismemberment of Somalia, a Muslim country and a member of the Arab League, Muslim and Arab countries would have every incentive to start hitting Ethiopia where it hurts, and give political, moral and financial support to the liberation movements such as the ONLF, the Oromo Liberation Front and others that are fighting to secede from Ethiopia. Add to this, Ethiopia today is a mere shell of its old self. Having lost Eritrea and all of its territories and ports, Ethiopia is weak, land-locked, and very vulnerable. Thus, making a wrong move, will put Ethiopia’s very existence at peril! As you can see, supporting the secession of Somaliland poses a grave danger to both Ethiopia’s international standing and to its very existence.

2—One of the most critical factors responsible for Ethiopia’s refusal to recognize Somaliland is that Ethiopia will gain NOTHING NEW, but trouble from recognizing Somaliland. That is, recognizing Somaliland will not add ONE single advantage to Ethiopia’s national interests, but, as I pointed out earlier, the recognition will make Ethiopia incur huge and devastating costs. And knowing they will get nothing positive whatsoever from recognizing Somaliland, whenever Somaliland leaders bring up the issue of recognition, Ethiopian officials have been simply saying, “Tinnish Qoy” or just wait a little longer, and Somaliland has been waiting for 19 years, and the waiting continues!

The reason why there isn’t any new advantage for Ethiopia from extending recognition to Somaliland is that Ethiopia already gets ALL the benefits possible to be gained from Somaliland’s secession from Somalia: Dismemberment of Somalia, the greatest strategic advantage for Ethiopia, is already a fact on the ground. A huge economic advantage, and access to the sea, and unparalleled influence over Somaliland and all other Somali regions is also a fact on the ground. That means Ethiopia today has, and has had, in the past 19 years all of the benefits possible to be gained from the dismemberment of the Somali nation WITHOUT any cost or repercussion on Ethiopia or its national interests!!

That means, the current status quo, where Somaliland remains in political wilderness, is the state where Ethiopia’s national interests are best served! The country gets all the benefits vis-à-vis Somalia and Somaliland without incurring any costs!

This situation came about because Somaliland leaders have rushed into declaring the secession from Somalia, and by doing that, they surrendered their biggest card before the game started, and thus by default realized all of Ethiopia’s interests toward Somalia and Somaliland all at once: dismemberment of the Somalia, access to sea, unparalleled influence on all Somali regions. These are the three critical factors that would have induced Ethiopia to grant recognition to Somaliland, but the declaration of the secession brought all three strategic benefits to Ethiopia without any cost or commitment. That is why Ethiopia does not see any reason why it should recognize Somaliland and incur devastating effect on its national interests for benefits she already has! Thus, so long Somaliland pursues the secession agenda, in the same way it had been doing in the past 19 years, the chance of Ethiopia granting recognition are nil. Ethiopia wants to keep the status quo of Somaliland as is, because the dismemberment of Somalia is today blamed on Somalis, Somalilanders included. But the moment Ethiopia extends recognition to Somaliland it knows all blame of Somali dismemberment will be transferred and pinned on Ethiopia’s neck. That is why ‘Tinnish Qoy’ is Ethiopia’s preferable phrase with Somaliland.

Is there a way that Somaliland can force Ethiopia to extend recognition? Yes, there is one and only one way. But it is away that Somalilanders aren’t interested at the moment, but in the end, they may have no other choice but to try it.

Anyhow, the one sure way that Somaliland can force Ethiopia to extend full recognition to Somaliland is to abandon the secession altogether, and reconcile with Southern Somalia! But this cannot be done with tricks and manoeuvres. It has to be genuine reconciliation. If Somaliland leaders make statements or even issue veiled threats of wanting to rejoin with Somalia in order to induce Ethiopia, the Abyssinians will call it a bluff and will not budge. But the moment Somaliland gives up on secession and starts genuine reconciliation with the south, a full Ethiopian Ambassador with all his credentials will arrive Hargeisa even before any southern delegation makes to the north!

Ethiopia will do this, and will recognize Somaliland immediately if it convinced the reconstitution of the Somali Republic is at work and is real possibility. To prevent that from happening, Ethiopia will hold back nothing.

This means the farther Somalilanders run away from southern Somalia, the farther Ethiopian recognition runs away from them! The closer they get to southern Somalia, the closer Ethiopia’s recognition for the secession. This is Somaliland’s Catch22!

In conclusion, if Somaliland leaders are serious about the secession, which I have no doubt they are, it is imperative for them to focus all of their energy and lobbying efforts on Ethiopia, and try to induce her to extend the recognition to their region. But if they fail to convince Ethiopia, the only country that has the incentive and interest for this cause, they should stop treading on the road to nowhere, because, frankly, the whole endeavour is futile. The sooner they realize that, the better for all involved.

PS:

One wild card for Somaliland’s recognition may come from Israel. However given the unpopularity of the Jewish state through out the world, it is not clear whether the people of Somaliland will see Israel’s recognition as a curse, or as a cause for celebration.

MoS Moments of Silence

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

Designation of Al-Shabaab

When our world changed forever

Al-Shabaab

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

SOMALI REPUBLICANS

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Somalia

About Us

The Foundation is dedicated to networking like-minded Somalis opposed to the terrorist insurgency that is plaguing our beloved homeland and informing the international public at large about what is really happening throughout the Horn of Africa region.

Al-Qaida in Somalia. ...

We Are Winning the War on Terrorism in Horn of Africa

The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.